Cycling competitions at the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics were held from August 9 to August 23 at the Laoshan Velodrome, Laoshan Mountain Bike Course, Laoshan BMX Field and the Beijing Cycling Road Course.
The women's BMX racing competition at the 2008 Summer Olympics took place on August 20–22 at the Laoshan BMX Field, the first to be officially featured in the Olympic cycling program.
The men's cross-country mountain biking at the 2008 Summer Olympics took place at the Laoshan Mountain Bike Course on August 23, 2008.
Catharine Pendrel is a Canadian cross-country mountain biker from Harvey Station, New Brunswick. A member of the Canadian National team since 2004, Pendrel was the world champion in cross-country mountain biking in 2011 and 2014 and the 2007 Pan American Games champion. She is also the current reigning Commonwealth Games champion when she won gold in Glasgow. Additionally, Pendrel is the 2010 World Cup Champion as well as the winner of the 2012 UCI and 2016 World Cup Series. She won a bronze medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
Maja Martyna Włoszczowska is a Polish mountain biker. She is the 2008 and 2016 Olympic silver medalist in cross-country cycling. She is a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
The Hadleigh Farm Mountain Bike International was a one off, mountain bike race, which acted as the test event for the 2012 Summer Olympics. The race was part of the London Prepares series of events. Catharine Pendrel and Julien Absalon won the races.
Emily Batty is a Canadian cross-country mountain biker. She won a bronze medal at the 2016 World Championships. Batty is the current Pan American Games champion and was the silver medalist at the 2014 Commonwealth Games. She won the gold medal at the Pan Am games in Toronto in 2015 in her home country.
Yolande Speedy is a South African professional mountain biker. She has claimed two gold medals in the women's elite cross-country race at the African Mountain Bike Championships, and also represented her nation South Africa at the 2008 Summer Olympics. In 2007 Speedy competed in the Absa Cape Epic Mixed Category with team mate Paul Cordes, winning the category. She claimed 1st place again in 2013, this time in the Women's Category with team mate Catherine Williamson. Throughout her sporting career, Speedy has been training as an amateur rider for the IMC Racing Activeworx Mountain Biking Team, until she turned professional in 2010 and thereby raced for more than three seasons on Team Qhubeka NextHash.
Vera Sergeyevna Andreyeva is a Russian amateur mountain biker. She represented her nation Russia, as a 20-year-old junior, at the 2008 Summer Olympics, and later finished second in the women's elite cross-country race at the 2012 Russian Mountain Biking Championships.
Tereza Huříková is a Czech professional road cyclist and mountain biker. Throughout her sporting career, she has won numerous Czech national championship titles in women's cross-country, road races and time trial, and more importantly, a prestigious gold medal in the junior time trial at the 2004 UCI World Championships. Huříková later represented the Czech Republic, as a 20-year-old junior, at the 2008 Summer Olympics, and also rode for USC Chirio Forno d'Asolo and Česká Spořitelna MTB Cycling Teams since she turned professional in 2006. Currently, Huříková trains and races under an exclusive, two-year sponsorship contract for Germany's Central Haibike Pro Team, along with her teammate and 2008 Olympic champion Sabine Spitz.
Petra Henzi is a retired Swiss professional mountain biker. Throughout her sporting career, she has won numerous Swiss national championship titles, and more importantly, a total of four prestigious medals in women's cross-country race at the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships. Henzi later represented her nation Switzerland, as a 38-year-old senior, at the 2008 Summer Olympics, and also rode professionally for more than five seasons on Fischer-BMC Team, before retiring from the sport in early 2010.
Nathalie Jessica Schneitter is a Swiss professional mountain biker. Throughout her sporting career, she has won numerous Swiss national championship titles, and more importantly, a gold medal in the under-23 category at the 2008 European Mountain Bike Championships. Schneitter also handed an opportunity to represent her nation Switzerland at the 2008 Summer Olympics, and later rode professionally for more than five seasons on an exclusive sponsorship contract with the Colnago Team.
Dellys Starr is a retired Australian amateur mountain biker. She has won two Australian national championship titles in the women's cross-country race, and later represented her nation Australia, as a 31-year-old veteran, at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in her home turf and at the 2008 Summer Olympics. Starr currently resides in Colorado Springs, Colorado, where she shares with her husband and American cyclist Ryan Starr.
Klaus Nielsen is a Danish professional mountain biker. He has won four Danish national championship titles in both men's cross-country and marathon races, and also represented his nation Denmark, as a 28-year-old senior, at the 2008 Summer Olympics. Nielsen currently trains and races professionally for Germany's Team ALB-Gold Mountain Bike Team.
Marek Galiński was a Polish professional mountain biker and road racing cyclist. During his sporting career, he won nine Polish national championship titles and a silver medal in men's cross-country racing at the 2003 UCI World Cup series in Sankt Wendel, Germany. Galinski also represented his nation Poland in four editions of the Olympic Games, where he competed in men's mountain biking from the time that it officially became an Olympic sport in 1996. Galinski raced professionally for more than five seasons on the JBG2 Professional MTB Team. After his retirement from the sport in 2011, Galinski worked as an assistant coach of both Polish and Russian mountain bike national teams. Upon his return from a training camp in Cyprus on 17 March 2014, Galinski was suddenly killed in a car accident near Jędrzejów.
Cristóbal Mauricio Silva Ibaceta is a Chilean amateur mountain biker. He has won five Chilean national championship titles in men's mountain biking, and also represented his nation Chile in two editions of the Olympic Games.
Christoph Reinhold Soukup is an Austrian professional mountain biker. Riding the sport for more than 15 years, Soukup has won fourteen Austrian national championship titles in men's mountain biking, and later represented his nation Austria in two editions of the Olympic Games, where he installed top-fifteen finishes in the same tournament. Throughout his sporting career, Soukup has been training and racing professionally for more than a decade on the Hitec Sports Team, although he had appeared short stints under a sponsorship contract with the Team FujiBikes and Mérida Biking Team.
Karl Emil Lindgren is a Swedish professional mountain biker. Riding the sport for more than 15 years, Lindgren has won ten Swedish national championship titles in men's mountain biking, and later represented his nation Sweden at the 2008 Summer Olympics. In 2009, Lindgren reached the summit of his mountain biking career by grabbing a first-place trophy and a yellow jersey at the Afxentia Stage Race, also known as the Sunshine Cup, in Cyprus. Lindgren currently trains and races professionally for the 2013 season on the Giant Pro XC Team, although he has appeared short stints on Bianchi, Full-Dynamix, De Brink-Ten Tusscher, and Rabobank cycling teams.
Yader Zoli is an Italian professional mountain biker. He has claimed three Italian national championship titles in men's mountain biking, and later represented his nation Italy in two editions of the Olympic Games. Zoli currently trains and races for the 2013 season on the Torpado Surfing Shop pro cycling team, along with Belgian rider and four-time Olympian Roel Paulissen.
Wolfram Kurschat is a German professional mountain biker. He has claimed two German national championship titles each in men's cross-country and marathon races, and later represented his nation Germany at the 2008 Summer Olympics. Kurschat currently trains and races for the 2013 season on Topeak-Ergon Racing Team, since he turned himself professional on the international scene in 2008.
